Exposed
by PrInCeSsFBi
Summary: Everyone has a fear. Some more than others. Tony stopped letting people touch him after his desert incident. One hell of a reason. Clint figured his out when he was just a kid. Tag to Big Green Guardian Angel


**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers**

"We all have our fears. Some, more then others I guess. Tony doesn't like when people touch him. Steve still gets freaked out anytime a clown is around. Thor has that thing with the rats which is just weird. Natasha is... if you tell her this I'll deny it and trust me she'll believe me more than anybody else so...She's afraid of herself. One wrong move, one wrong reflex of killing one of us and she...well...It's complicated." Clint licked his lips blinking slowly. Even though the numbing calm was surrounding him like a blanket, so warm and inviting, he would shift to keep himself awake. The sharp pain would jolt him awake making his ribs hurt long enough to remind him to keep talking. Staying awake. That's the key. He really needed to stop falling off crumbling buildings for a while. "You know Tony stopped letting people touch him after his desert incident. One hell of a reason. I figured mine out when I was a kid."

"I don't...I like high pla..." He sighed. He could practically feel the pointed stare from Coulson in his mind and man he must really be out of it if he was thinking of Phil. He hadn't thought of Phil for a while, the memory was still too raw. Clint swallowed letting his head fall the side. "I don't like not...not being able to move. Phil got that ya know. All my life people felt I was just this...weapon or an asset or uh..."

He licked his lips again.

"Something to be caged." He shifted again, this time the dull pain of his ankle catching him. "I hate it. But you do too I'm sure so…

"Phil used to say that we always knew our fears from the moment we could tell the difference between being awake and sleeping. Like how when you're a baby you just sleep when you want to and don't think much of it until there's that day when you just realize that you're sleeping." Clint shrugged grimacing at the stretch it caused his muscles. "Back where I'm from, there was this guy, Jack, who was the coolest guy I had ever met. The guy practically taught me everything I know. He was my Captain America."

The bitter irony hung in the air.

"I thought we were friends. We weren't. Not to him anyway. That's all I was… a tool." Clint snorted lifting his head up to look around. He pinched the bridge of his nose groaning against his massive headache. "So when I was thirteen I went looking for him, trying to see if he wanted to hang out -I don't know-

"I don't…" He sighed dropping his head back to the ground to wipe at the blood that was tickling his skin. "I don't even know what I walked in on."

Clint stopped, chewing on his lip in thought before he gave another long sigh letting his fist fall to the ground with a thud. He pressed the heel of his palm into the soft dirt caking his skin in mud.

"He tied me to a pole and beat me with a whip until I was unconscious." He swallowed thickly wiping away at the moisture on his face. It was sweat. No one was around to question what he said was rolling down his face. It was sweat. "And he left me there. When I finally came to there was so much pain I couldn't move."

"I…I couldn't get the knot and I was stuck there until someone found me and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't-" Clint took a ragged breath his throat closing in and his ribs protesting at the quick way his chest was rising and falling.

He turned to Bruce, the doctor still unconscious by his side, forcing Clint to take a few long slow breathes. "I know you're still scared. I mean you've got reason to be waking up somewhere you don't remember buck naked it sounds horrible…or wonderful depending on the night you had earlier."

The wind blew but Bruce didn't seem to notice. Clint eye's slumped again and he turned himself onto his stomach, his ribs taking enough revenge on their part that he gasped and jolted onto his knees before falling again. He caught himself on his hands and his body protested the movement.

"But-" He grunted clenching his teeth as he finally propped himself up. The world tilted to the left and he was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to do that. His hand found Bruce's bicep, the contact grounding him enough for the black dots to fade away. "I'll be here to find you so… you know. You don't need to worry... But anyway that's how I got these."

Clint waved a hand at his side where the several hair thin scars covered his skin throwing his disinterest back on like a firm mask. He ran a hand through his hair kneading out the knot in his neck. It was something to keep his hands busy, his bow having been lost somewhere along the journey of city to where ever the hell they were now. The slim bow enough to protect him from the exposure and it was gone. He looked at Bruce, his SHIELD mind realizing they were out in the open and vulnerable in all ways they didn't want to be. He shrugged off his vest, the action taking a lot longer than it should and a lot more pain than he should have put his abused body through, before he laid it over Bruce and dug his hand through the ground again clenching his fist around the dirt.

"I figured the big guy wanted to know."

**a/n: So a little bit darker. Sorry it took me longer than usual I was dealing with a migraine thing. Thank you to all who favorited and reviewed and etc etc. You guys definitely make my day. **


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